10 Reasons Why DDP Was The Original People’s Champ Of Wrestling

10. The Diamond Cutter

Perhaps one of the most over parts of DDP’s overall presentation was his finishing move, the legendary Diamond Cutter.

Introduced to the sport by Johnny “Ace” Laurinaitis, Page managed to evolve Ace’s version of the move - The Ace Crusher - by applying the hold using a neck grovit to hook the opponent’s head in a ¾ face lock. The result looked devastating and the Diamond Cutter was born, voted “Best Wrestling Maneuver” for 1997 by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Page has gone on record as saying his mentor, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, personally congratulated him for his development of the move, stating that the impactful face plant was reminiscent of Jake’s own legendary finisher and subsequently congratulated Page for “reinventing the DDT”.

The move was adopted by Randy Orton in 2002, rechristened the RKO and has gone on to become arguably the popular finisher in WWE today.